


Cats and Guests

by Rogercat



Series: Ancalagon the cat [1]
Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms, The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Culture difference, F/M, Family Drama, Gen, Loving Marriage, Married Couple, Pets, Rebirth, Some Humor, Third Age, Valinor, allergy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2019-12-21
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:53:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21884794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rogercat/pseuds/Rogercat
Summary: When Dior and Nimloth gets a cat, they also find a way to bring Eärendil's poor social skills into the mess
Relationships: Dior Eluchíl/Nimloth of Doriath, Eluréd & Elurín (Tolkien), Eärendil/Elwing (Tolkien)
Series: Ancalagon the cat [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1633960
Comments: 10
Kudos: 28





	Cats and Guests

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Nuredhel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nuredhel/gifts).



For most part, Dior Eluchil and his wife Nimloth was pleased with their new life in Valinor. After a shared rebirth in the Gardens of Lorien, they had found a remotely located cottage to live in, since the memories of being the King and Queen of Doriath was too painful. and neither husband or wife was the sort of person who enjoyed large crowds anyway, Dior for that he had grown up in Tol Galen and Nimloth had always prefered a quiet life. Their twin sons had finally gotten the chance to grow up in peace, becoming two fine young Elves in the ways of life. 

Yet things was not fully perfect. Their daughter Elwing, who had only been familiar with them though the stories and memories of other people such Celeborn due to Nimloth being Celeborn's niece, found it hard to connect with her parents as real, living persons. It did not help that Elwing had became the new ruler of the refugees from Doriath while still being a toddler on only three years, and thus had grown up in a position she was too young to fully understand about its duties and responsibility. 

  
  


This was what Dior had been thinking about for the past week, after that Elwing had managed to get her own husband Eärendil with her on a rare break from his duties up in the sky. 

“I hate to say it, but our daughter really got her life messed up by becoming Queen at a young young age, among other things she did not understand at that time.” 

He closed the book he had been reading, a book originally written for young children who learned about ordinary animals in the wild, with a deep sigh. The reason to why he did not read a book meant for adults was fairly simple, and not only due to an hopelessly irregular teaching of basic skills such as reading, writing and counting in his childhood, Elrond had after long observation realized that Dior actually was one of the rare Elves who suffered from dyslexia. 

“Tell me if there is something on your mind, dear,” Nimoth requested after arriving with two cups of hot tea from the kitchen. 

“Mostly that Eärendil did the mistake of bringing peanuts again here on his last visit with Elwing,” Dior responded in a unhappy tone. Dyslexia was not the only problem which Elrond believed to be partly caused by Dior's lineage as well the fact that Luthien and Beren had been dead before returning to life and getting their son, Dior also suffered from peanut allergy as an unmistakable proof of his human blood from the House of Bëor though Beren, which also happened to have been passed down to some of Elros' various descendants over the past Ages.

“Oh, yes. And he even had the nerve of being rude about it this time!” 

Nimloth and Dior tried to accept Eärendil for all his flaws and such, being their son-in-law and all, but the son of Idril and Tuor had, unfortunately, inherited some of the pride from his maternal grandfather Turgon, as well coming off as somewhat aloof due to not exactly...needing _social skills_ up in the sky. It did not help that Eärendil apparently had been blessed to not inherit any health issues from his mortal blood, which made Dior feel as if the younger Half-elven made fun of his allergy simply to prove himself superior. 

“Sometimes I felt that perhaps it was for the best that our grandsons was raised by Maedhros and Maglor, because Eru know how they might have turned out with that kind of parenting Elwing and Eärendil would have done.” 

With the way both Elwing and Eärendil tended to be aloof at times as well with Eärendil being away on his long sailings while she was busy with her duties as queen, neither one liked to imagine how their grandsons would have grown up. 

“Master! Mistress! There is forest mice out in the wheat storage again!” one of their few servants called in distress, and once again the whole household had to deal with one of the biggest problems for them. 

  
  


Once all the forest mice had finally been dealt with, Nimloth moved her hands as if she wanted to strangle someone. 

“I do not care about that Eärendil hates those creatures due to that an grumpy old cat scratched him as a child before the Fall of Gondolin, we are getting a cat to ensure that our wheat and other food supplies are left alone in winter!”

That Dior and the servants had to agree about. This cottage was not where Elwing and Eärendil lived, and as rarely-visiting guests, they had no say in the decisions made here. 

~X~X~X~X~X~X

Despite how things had been in the past, the Fëanorians had somehow managed to come to a agreement with Dior and Nimloth: 

They would try to ignore the events that had led to the Second Kinslaying, and in return give each other a chance to at least be some form of allies if not directly friends. This had proved very useful, since it was not unheard of that Dior could be viewed as an unworthy heir to his parents because of things what actually had been out of his control. Of course, there was also the whole story with Luthien and Celegorm in Nargothrond that people tried to debate, too. 

As such, it happened to be Celegorm who got a odd request in a letter while he was in the Woods of Oromë. It was rare for him to get any letters from Dior, but this were a special case. 

“A cat to help with keeping forest mice away from the food and preferably also which can poke holes in someone's ego?” 

Of course, as a hunter, Celegorm was not blind to how mice and rats could become a pest if there was no cat to hunt them. If you did not have enough food over winter and lived far away from the nearest village with a market, you risked starving. Besides, if it now also would be a good way to annoy the grandson of Turgon… 

A few weeks later, a unplanned guest showed up at the doorstep to the cottage with a large hound at his side. 

“Hello. Sorry for taking some time, I wanted to find a good cat that would fit into the household.”

There was some meowing hissing sounds from a wicker basket with lid, which was tied behind his saddle. 

“Thanks a lot for the help, Celegorm. Yes, it seemed odd that we reached out for your help, but if people learned that we wanted a cat, a lot of people would try to find their way here to show off those... _fancy_ cats that can be brought from cat breeders.” 

Celegorm made a face. For whatever reason, it was a on-going trend with cats as pets to wealthy people here in Valinor, and breeders who tried to create new cat breeds that had no function at all other than being eye ornaments. Personally, he preferred the big, muscular, long-furred ones that could be found in the north of Valinor near Formenos, those who was begotten the natural way and skilled hunters. 

“Yeah, just took some time to geld this one and then have him heal from that operation, given your request to not have a cat that could overwhelm the local forests with unplanned kittens.” 

It was perfectly fine to let nature have its cause, but given how fertile cats was, unplanned kittens could be something of a problem. 

“Alright, let's this one come out now. He does not sound very happy over the way he had to travel.” 

Nimloth opened the lid, only to find a huge black shadow jump out. With a small scream of surprise, she fell over on the floor in order to not get her face clawed. 

“Wow, he is huge!” Dior said in awe at seeing how big the cat was, after the first shock had passed. Indeed, the very size was something which would be “unfashionable” among the nobles, since it looked to weight around ten kilo in weight thanks to being a fully grown male cat, the long fur would be a nightmare for anyone who did not want to spend time on grooming, and the yellow eyes was watchful. Yet a slice of offered ham seemed to be accepted as a treat from his new owners. 

“Yes, since you did not care about any colour on the fur, I thought it would be funny if Eärendil got scared by a black ghost.” 

“Black ghost, you say?”

Nimloth and Dior looked at each other, before smiling in agreement. 

“ _Ancalagon_.”

Celegorm, who realized the their plan, howled in laugher. A cat named after the dragon Eärendil was famous for slaying in the War of Wraith, was going to be fun. 

~X~X~X~X~X~X

It did not take long for Ancalagon to be accepted into the household, as he proved himself very useful both in the art of keeping mice away during winter and even birds from the newly planted crops in front. 

The cat was not a cuddle bug, but enjoyed to be clapped from time to time by everyone and gladly scratched from time to time if there was some place he didn't really get to reach with the claws on the back paws. Dior often found himself more or less stuck on the sofa if he happened to be reading a book, if Ancalagon chose his lap for a nap, given how heavy he could be. Nimloth came up with the idea of using Ancalagon as a good counterweight whatever they needed to straighten out bedding and carpets after a big cleaning, since the big cat tended to sleep pretty much everywhere and why not use that he often jumped around on anything that they had not picked up yet?

Eluréd and Elurín loved the cat after the first meeting a few weeks after that Celegorm had delivered him, and Ancalagon accepted the young Elves in return for playing with him, or just plain proving themselves to be almost the same good breathing “pillows” for him to sleep on as their father. 

  
  


At the end of summer, Elwing arrived for a visit again. And this time, she had managed to bring Eärendil with her. 

“The birds complained on the way here that you and Adar has gotten a cat, Nanaeth.”

Again that formality which Nimloth secretly hated to be addressed with, but hid it behind a gently smile.

“It was the best way to keep our wheat and crops safe from mice, dear.”

Since Ancalagon currently was sleeping in tbe master room, the first impression of the huge cat was going to be a surprise for later. 

“Well, did you get the cat from the same breeder as Idril and Tuor? They brought it a few years ago, a lovely female.”

However, as Eärendil opened a bag of nuts while Elwing talked, Dior felt the smell of peanuts and began to wheezing as a reaction to his allergy. 

“We have told you to not bring those damn nuts into the house! Stop treating Dior as if it is just a harmless prank!” Nimloth screamed, slapping the bag away from Eärendil's hand and out though a opened window. Then she grabbed her husband, pulling him out from the living room in the hope of that some distance would be enough for him right now. 

“It is not my fault that he gets ill....” 

Yup, Eärendil really did not have the best social skills after so long time up in the sky. 

“Damned spoiled prince of Gondolin…” Dior muttered between his wheezing and coughing, again wondering just how just pampered Eärendil had been as a young child by the royal court of Gondolin as the only grandson to their king. 

A annoyed meow over all the noise came as Ancalagon left the master room as Nimloth helped Dior inside, and the nearly soundless movements of paws on the floor. Then a loud yell of terror was heard from Eärendil, as Ancalagon happened to look nearly identical to the cat who had caused his dislike for cats, only with the difference that the long-dead cat had been having white spots and more grey in the fur from high age. 

“Oh sounds like Anacalgon realized that he is the reason behind your current state of health.” 

  
  


Ancalagon was a smart cat, and had even figured out that his favorite male Elf could not be around peanuts or risk getting horribly ill. So naturally, with the smell of peanuts on Eärendil's breath, the cat saw it as his duty to punish this unknown Elf for disrupting the order in his territory. Eärendil's fine robes got turned into confetti by the sharp claws, while the terrified Elwing did her best to save her husband. 

“Get this blasted beast off me!!”

Given that the servants had seen the peanuts and knew how their master tended to react on them, the younger Half-elven couple did not help any help about Ancalagon. 

That was, until that the twins entered the cottage. They had heard their mother scream about the peanuts, and then their brother-in-law's terror at finding himself at Ancalagon's displeasure. 

“Anca, we have a fresh bird for you!” Elurín called, holding out a stock dove which was so fresh that it was still dropping blood from the fatal wound in the chest with arrow. The cat, who never could resist a such treat, left a trembling Eärendil on the floor behind in favor of snatching the bird from the older twin and jumping up in the window to enjoy the prize. 

“Anca?” a confused Elwing asked her brothers, while helping her husband to stand up again on his own feet. 

“Ancalagon,” Eluréd explained with a grin. 

“ **_They named that cat monstrosity after that bloody dragon?!_ **” 

And with that information in his mind and said cat giving him a haughty glare from the window, the son of Idril and Tuor fainted in horror on the sofa. 

“Wimp,” the silver-haired sons of Dior and Nimloth commented as one, much to the displeasure of their sister, thinking that Ancalagon had proved himself a good bodyguard for their father.

~X~X~X~X~X~X

Naturally, given the first impression of each other, it was safe to say that Eärendil and Ancalagon grew a mutual dislike. Eärendil for how he found a new reason to dislike cats, while Ancalagon tended to jump on Eärendil at every visit to ensure that peanuts never came close to Dior again. 

“Well, you are doing good work in teaching Eärendil some much-needed reminder about what means with social skills,” Nimloth laughed while giving Ancalagon a extra slice of ham as treat, the cat laying in a comfortable position that was warming up Dior's feet under the quilt at the same time. He did hide his face behind a book, but Nimloth knew that he was grinning over her words. Eärendil now only visited once a year and Elwing maybe once or twice, for both the younger Half-elves was terrified of the huge black cat, so well-named after the largest dragon ever seen in Arda. 

**Author's Note:**

> Admit it, Eärendil sailing up in the sky almost very night would not allow him to use his social skills for much, and as a grandson to the King of Gondolin, I think that he was pampered a lot in his early childhood by Turgon
> 
> And Elwing becoming Queen over the surviviors from Doriath as a toddler, with no close family left alive, she would have only been familiar with her parents and brothers though stories, maybe building up a idealized image of them as innocent victims of the Second Kinslaying and having trouble to see them as a real persons with flaws and all that


End file.
